What a nice surprise to meet you. Thanks a bunch for visiting my blog. How you stumbled on that particular post from so long ago is a mystery to me, but I'm happy to answer your questions about writing--anytime you have them. :-) Just leave me a comment either on my Suzy's Scribbles blog, my Writing Workshop blog or even on my (Andi's) Circle C blog and I"ll find you. LOL

Anyway...Do I outline? I wish I were so organized. Actually I'm what they call a seat-of-your-pants kind of writer. At least with the first 3 books. I would be happily imagining away, "seeing" a scene in my head in living video color and then the words would just flow onto paper. My mentor/friend is always hinting about outlining (she outlines all her many books), but alas....that would mean I need to know where the story is going, and I never knew until I got there. Sometimes my poor manuscript would sit for months because I was stuck and didn't know what to write next. NOT a good way to write, I tell you! Outlining is so much better, and it's very good that you outline. Actually, I outlined the first book, LRH, but it was AFTER it was published. I needed to show kids how to outline. Bad, huh?

However, there is hope to the end of this story. Book 4, which is coming out in the fall, is the very first story I have ever, ever outlined! I got this great idea and wrote about 3 chapters, then....nothing. My mentor sat me down and together we brainstormed a whole bunch of "what ifs" that Andi could encounter in San Francisco. We put it into a very rough "time line" as in first something happens, then the next thing, etc. I never marked chapters, as I time my chapters to end on a cliff hanger whenever I can, and those can't be pre-determined. They just....happen.

Well, I didn't like looking at that ol' outline, but it did help me stay on track. The book was finished in October (by the grace of God). I have to confess that the outline kept me on track, but the book doesn't look anything like what I'd outlined. So use your outline but don't let it use YOU. Jump off and follow fun plot points if you want. You can always go back and change the outline to fit your story, right? LOL

Does this help? I guess it was kind of a long, long answer to a short question. Sorry. That's what you get when you ask a writer a question.

If you want to learn any other writing hints, feel free to hop over to www.homeschoolblogger.com/WritingWorkshop/ where you can download lessons of interest that might help you with whatever you're writing.

What's the name of your story and what's it about?

Yes, I changed my template too :-D. I just can't find the "perfect" one!!
I'm not big on outlining, myself--well, when I first have an idea for a story, I'll scribble down the basic plot, and as it changes I might jot down a note or two...but usually the story carries itself :-).
~Beth